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Medicare Trust Fund Insolvent by 2024

According to a report from the Social Security and Medicare board of trustees, the Medicare trust fund is estimated to become exhausted by 2024, which is five years sooner than the date shown in the 2010 report. Payroll tax revenues, which provide most of the money for Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund, were lower than expected last year.

Notably, the projections assume that Medicare will cut doctors’ fees by 29 percent on January 1, 2012, as required under current law; while it is the physician’s community contention that Congress should intervene to prevent the cuts, as has been the case in previous years. Additionally, the report assumes a 25 percent decrease in Medicare costs attributed to the new health care law.

Review the 2011 Medicare Trustees Report in its entirety at the CMS Website.